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Commander Tim Morley
Commander Tim Morley was the captain of the patrol boat HMS Princess in the years after the '91 Disaster . He became notorious for his passion at stemming the human trafficking trade through the North Sea in the chaotic years of the 1990s. Early Career Morley joined the Royal Navy in 1984 at aged 18 and gained his commission in 1986 joining the Royal Navy's Home Fleet Patrol Service. His first sea posting was aboard the Island-class HMS Orkney ''as a Junior Operations Officer patrolling Britain's fishing grounds in the North Sea and North Atlantic. He proved adept at this role and was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in 1988. Fighting the IRA During the 1980s the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were attempting to smuggle weapons into Northern Ireland by sea from US sympathizers based in Iceland. Sub-Lt Morley was part of the operations team involved in planning an interception of the cargo ship Westwind Eagle. The ''Orkney ''and two other patrol boats surrounded the vessel as it entered British waters and fought a thirty minute gun battle with IRA terorists aboard the vessel until Royal Marines aboard the patrol boats were able to storm the ship. Upon inspection a massive cache of arms were found on board including guided missiles with US Army serials scribbled out. For his part in the operation Morley was promoted to Lieutenant and appointed as a Senior Operations Officer. New Posting As a Senior Operations Officer Morley spent much of 1989 on a compulsory shore posting at Scapa Flow Naval Base. Then in July 1990 he was assigned to the patrol boat [[HMS Princess|HMS ''Princess]] in his role as Senior Operations Officer. In his memoirs published in 2009 Morley said of [[HMS Princess|HMS Princess]]; "She was on overworked ship whose crew spent as much time bolting her back together as they did anything else. Her name was something of a joke at Scapa Flow but anyone who sailed on the 'Little Princess' defended her honour with enormous dedication. Few sailors from other vessels dare insult the 'Little Princess' twice." The Coming Storm By 1990 the world was becoming an increasingly dangerous place. War with either the United States of America or the Soviet Union was looking increasingly likely. HMS Princess ''found herself spending more time monitoring US and Soviet shipping activity than monitoring fishing stocks as was a more traditional role for the ship. Morley was noted for his particular dislike of the US forces having had several unhappy encounters during the course of his career particularly over the Westwind Eagle incident. The '91 Disaster In February 1991 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and made the Executive Officer of HMS ''Princess. On March 28th 1991 HMS'' Princess'' slipped her moorings at Scapa Flow for a routine patrol in the North Sea. As Morley later wrote; There was something not right that day. I know people will think that I am only saying this now because of what happened less than a week later but ask any man aboard that boat that day and they will say the same. It was as if we knew what was coming. It was tangible. Physical. Three days later news reached HMS Princess ''that the United States and the New Commonwealth were at war. Soon the war spread to Europe and included the Soviets. The North Sea became a hot bed of air and sea combat and HMS ''Princess being armed only with a 76mm gun and small arms would prove an easy target. The Princess ''was ordered to head to the Shetland Islands and take cover. The patrol boat arrived at the Islands on April 2nd having successfully evaded several hostile aircraft and ships. Soon news of the nuclear attacks reached the ''Princess ''including the destruction of Scapa Flow. Captain of the ''Princess In 1992 Morley became Captain of HMS'' Princess'' just as the explosion of smuggling and piracy began. On November 3rd 1992 he left for his first patrol as Captain. These were particularly dark times with many no longer caring about their own lives to say nothing of the lives of others. Brutal Justice Under the Emergency Powers granted to the military by the New Commonwealth the Royal Navy was authorized to dish out frontier style punishments for piracy. On November 7th 1992 HMS Princess discovered a fishing trawler whose engine was smoking. Thinking they were in trouble Morley ordered his vessel to come to their aid but found the trawler crew trying to escape them. Suspecting there was something more sinister to the vessel Morley ordered his crew to board them. A heavily armed boarding party from the Princess ''stormed the vessel and took the crew of nine British men into custody. As the crew of the ''Princess searched below they made a grizzly discovery. Five women were tied up below two of whom had died. They had been repeatedly beaten and raped by the crew who had snatched them from the mainland along with thousands of pounds worth of stolen goods. Morley wrote later; "I thought I was prepared for anything but that day I saw something that finally broke me. When I heard the report from my XO part of me refused to believe it. I had to see it for myself and so I travelled aboard the trawler and saw it all first hand...The crew we had in custody didn't seem to care about either the women or their situation. They didn't realize just how far reaching the Navy's powers were. They would soon learn...I ordered each of the men to be blindfolded. They were told they were being transported to the Princess but what we were actually doing was lining them up near the bow of the trawler. I ordered my men to start shooting. All nine men were shot in the head and their bodies fell in to the sea. '' ''That was the first time I had to give that order. I have not counted how many times I have given it since." The Sheriff of the North Sea This early incident more or less defined much of Morley's career in the early to mid nineties. Morley became well known for his hatred of pirates and smugglers and HMS ''Princess ''developed a reputation for ruthlessness in dealing with them. This fact earned Morley the title "The Sheriff of the North Sea". The Swedish Slave Ship In 1995 the Royal Navy received word that a Swedish freighter was smuggling a number of slave girls into Western Europe from the Middle and Far East. The ship was making several stops across the continent including the UK. Slave girls became big business for crime lords in Europe during the 1990s. The girls were all kidnapped from places where there had been no nuclear attacks during the 1991 war. They were therefore considered 'clean' from radioactive infection or disease. At 0134hrs on June 23rd 1995 the ''Princess ''intercepted and boarded the ship. The boarding party fought a running gun battle with the people smugglers aboard the vessel and they soon overwhelmed them. Sadly two of the slave girls were killed in the fight. With the surviving crew in custody the boarding party searched the vessel and found fifty three such slave girls below decks the youngest of which was 13 years old. For the surviving crew members they too found themselves hooded and executed. There was no luxury of a trial. Category:Heroes & Villains